Maundy Thursday and Good Friday – 2020
Celebrating Maundy Thursday and Good Friday from home.
Dear friends,
We are now into Holy Week and another week of physical isolation and separation. Some are finding it harder than others, and some are more isolated than others. We very much hope that you are staying safe and well in these strange, uncertain and unprecedented times. If any of you did venture out for a walk on Palm Sunday – you may have found Palm Crosses decorating the Notice Board and the Church Door at Christ Church Walmsley – my only way of sharing that very special day with others. And I was delighted to discover today that the packets of spare crosses I had left are now empty.
Stay safe and please contact me if you wish to add anything to be shared with others.
Love and blessings,
Dawn Hitchen
Church Warden and Authorised Lay Minister for Pastoral Care
Some words from Canon Peter Reiss
The Holy Week story and even the Easter story is not some otherworldly escape; it is about our mortality – it focuses on the death of Jesus; it is about human sin and violence – it tells of the brutality of the crucifixion, but also the failure of the disciples to support; some of the events are very public, and others are located in an upper room.
I think we will find the story almost too real – as we find the daily headline is how many have died, and as we discover from our friends and networks that people we know are ill or have died – we will focus on the death of Jesus. This year we cannot avoid the difficult truth and reality but we may find it gives us a deeper and more profound understanding of the truth and reality of the Resurrection.
Let us support each other and encourage each other, and watch out for each other in the coming days. The rainbow is becoming a national sign at this time, and some will find comfort in the song “Somewhere, over the rainbow”. But the reason the rainbow is used as a sign of hope is because it is given as a sign of hope after the deluge in the story of Noah. The rainbow then, and the Resurrection later, the sign and the reality of God’s promise to us.
Canon Peter Reiss
Rector of the Turton Moorland Team Ministry
Please do share your thoughts and reflections this Holy Week on our Walmsley Parish Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/walmsleyparish/
We hope young and older are going to send in short videos of the “Easter Tomb / Resurrection” as done with our hand – please be imaginative and creative. See the video link here >>> if you are not sure.
There will be services on Facebook and YouTube for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, which will include prayers music and reflections for this time; Reverend Jan Ainsworth and St Maxentius have also prepared scripts for the more traditional services for us to use in our homes, with the readings and prayers for each day. These are attached with this e-mail.
If you missed last Sunday’s services led by the Bishop of Manchester with Archdeacon Karen Lund giving the readings, you can watch it HERE.
You can also WATCH the virtual service led by Canon Peter Reiss at 11am on Palm Sunday.
Resources for Holy Week
Susan Pilkington has found some YouTube links from the “Jesus” film. You might like to watch these as we go through Holy Week.
There is also a version of the well-known hymn, “When I survey the wondrous cross” to a different tune which you might like to listen to.
If you would like to receive e-mails with prayer, Liturgy, etc., please contact Dawn Hitchen.